SAN FRANCISCO — Lakers center Anthony Davis injured his head in what seemed to be an inadvertent hit by Golden State’s Kevon Looney midway through the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 121-106 Game 5 victory within the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.
Davis grabbed at his head grimacing on the bench before going to the locker room following the play with 7:43 remaining.
He and Looney were battling for positioning within the paint on a driving layup by the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell.
Davis’ status for Game 6 on Friday night back in Los Angeles is unclear but coach Darivn Ham was encouraged afterward without providing details on what evaluation — similar to concussion testing — the large man went through once within the locker room.
TNT reported Davis required a wheelchair to go to the locker room.
One other good sign was Davis walking out of Chase Center on his own.
“Obviously, everyone saw he took a shot to the top, but we just checked in on him, he appears to be doing really good already,” Ham said. “That’s just where he’s at. That’s the status of it right away.”
The Lakers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2.
Davis finished with 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting, nine rebounds and three assists but didn’t block a shot.
Teammate Austin Reaves reported Davis doing “higher” as a positive sign, but that Los Angeles can be ready with or without him.
“Obviously, AD is big to what we do. I feel he’ll play, but when that’s not the case, we’re still a bunch of NBA basketball players which have played games without him this 12 months,” Reaves said. “You never need to play a giant game with out a guy like that. But that’s the character of the sport.”
Stephen Curry and the Warriors fully expect to see AD come Friday night.
“I do not know what happened to him or what his situation is,” Curry said, “but I might say yeah.”
